I regularly deal with clients who have issues with their telecom provider, and frankly it’s hard to determine which provider is doing the worst legally. I regularly work on mandates from Telekom, Vodafone (or Kabel Deutschland) and also O2. All of the major vendors seem to share the same problems:
They have become so large that
– The hotlines, which are often outsourced to third countries, are regularly overwhelmed by the task of helping customers who have no legal knowledge.
– a correct process of revocation, contract sample and numerous other aspects often fails due to things like postal delivery, name confusion and numerous other aspects.
In addition, a particularly large number of problems seem to have arisen recently as a result of thoroughly questionable sales methods with the help of call centers, agencies or sales representatives. These mostly operate on a commission basis and therefore often seem to have only limited interest in informing consumers exactly what they really need, which products make sense or how to save costs. For the same reason, this apparently continues to be handled quite sloppily with things like contract conclusion, information on revocation (then of course there is no commission!) and other things. The victims are often customers who are stuck with useless or overpriced contracts.
Of course, since telecommunications providers are also stuck in a hot competitive battle, customers are rarely helped via the hotlines. The only way to save yourself from unnecessary costs is to go to a lawyer. Although most providers are very accommodating in their response to solicitors’ letters and are probably interested in real legal disputes, consumers often have to reckon with disruptions to their Internet or TV connections, reminders or even debt collection agencies.
I would therefore advise anyone signing up for a new cell phone, TV, DSL or cable connection to generally avoid doing so on the road in a retail store. If the prices are then unbeatable, but in any case to have all the document IMMEDIATELY handed over. In addition, all contracts, all documents should really always be properly archived and access data and the like should also be noted on the documents. The latter can often be the lifeline to save oneself from overpriced contracts after all.
